Peter Schneider accident clipping, 1891

This very tattered and fragile clipping from a Cleveland newspaper, February 26th or 27th of 1891, details the sad end of Peter Schneider, the father of my great-grandmother Lena Betz, at the age of 39. He was driving his buggy down Cedar Avenue when he was run down by a motorized streetcar. This would likely have been one of the very early electrified lines of the East Cleveland Railway Company. The most chilling thing about the report is the sentence “Koebler’s ambulance was called and the injured man removed to his home.” That was all they could do for a seriously injured human in 1891.

Peter Schneider was born in Germany in 1852, and probably emigrated to the U.S. in the 1870s. He is buried in Saint Stephen Cemetery in Hamilton, Ohio along with his wife Francis (nee Becker), who appears in some photos on this site. The small box in which the above article was stored also contained a lapel pin with Peter’s picture on it. A scan can be viewed here. A transcription of the article follows the links.

KILLED
By a Motor on Cedar Avenue
FATAL ACCIDENT TO A MAN
DRIVING ACROSS THE
TRACKS
Peter Schneider, Agent of the
Cincinnati Brewing Company,
Run Down by a Motor on
Cedar-av. and Injured So Badly
That Death Resulted in a Short
Time
Peter C. Schneider, the local agent of the
Cincinnati brewing company, was killed by
a Cedar-av. motor, Wednesday morning
about 9 o'clock. He was driving on Cedar
near East Madison-av., and was crossing
the tracks when struck by the rapidly
moving motor. Schneider's buggy was
demolished by the force of the col-
lision and he was run down by the
motor. When picked up he was in-
sensible at the side of the tracks.
Koebler's ambulance was called and the
injured man removed to his home. He
died before noon, having received injuries
about the chest that made recovery im-
possible.
Schneider was married and lived at 36
Chanel-st. He was quite well known in
this city.

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